


Playing Mediator

by BotchedExperiment



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:27:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22104808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BotchedExperiment/pseuds/BotchedExperiment
Summary: "Rayla... you know how he is. He wasn't trying to upset you.""I'm not upset!" She very obviously was, but it wasn’t worth arguing over.ORRayla and Runaan are both too stubborn for their own good. Ethari is there to help.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 46





	Playing Mediator

Ethari seated himself at the edge of the pond, a safe distance away from the fuming teenager.

"Is he still angry?"

Ethari sighed. "He's not angry."

She huffed out a laugh. "He's sure got a weird way of showin' it, then."

"Rayla... you know how he is. He wasn't trying to upset you."

"I'm not upset!" She very obviously was, but it wasn’t worth arguing over. "It's just... Nothing I do is ever good enough, and he never- _ugh._ " She groaned and violently threw a rock into the water.

"Runaan knows how talented you are. He wants to make sure that you-" Ethari stopped himself. Defending Runaan wasn't going to solve this situation. But one thing he could do was tell her the truth. Ethari took a deep breath. "He's so proud of you, Rayla. We both are. He shouldn't have yelled at you, and I think he realized that immediately."

Rayla huffed. "Well, he treats me like a little kid and then tells me to act like an adult. I'm trying _so hard_ and he doesn't even care!"

What else could he say to that? "Runaan loves you, Rayla."

Rayla stayed silent and continued glaring at the water.

Ethari stood, leaning over to kiss the top of her head. "Take your time, alright? Come inside whenever you're ready. "

\-----

"She's a child."

"She's old enough to know what's expected of her. I was younger than she is when I started learning these things, learning them _correctly_." Runaan was in the process of sharpening one of his blades. It didn't need it - he had just sharpened it the day before, but it made him feel better, so Ethari didn't say anything.

"Mhm, and she's not you."

"I'm aware of that, but..." Runaan sighed. "Sometimes it's as if she doesn't _care_ about how talented she is. Xadia needs someone like her, but if she doesn't take this seriously..."

"With the way that she reacted, I'd say she takes it pretty seriously."

The scraping of stone against blade paused. Runaan turned to him. "How upset is she?"

"Upset enough to think that you don't believe she's good enough. You may want to fix that," Ethari didn't hide the annoyance in his voice, and Runaan didn't argue. He simple gave a resigned sigh, laid his things on the worktable. He didn't move, so Ethari continued. "I'm getting quite tired of playing mediator between the two of you, Runaan."

"Nobody asked you to," he replied, voice quieter.

Ethari scoffed. "But what would happen if I didn't? I'm not about to let you and Rayla fall apart because you're both ridiculously stubborn."

Silence.

Maybe he was being too bold. It wasn't fair for him to blame Runaan for all of this drama. He truly was doing everything in his power to help Rayla perfect her abilities. He just… forgot that she was still a young girl. She wasn't an assassin (Ethari hoped she never would be; Runaan didn't share those feelings), she was a kid. A kid with feelings that could be easily hurt whether she showed it or not.

And perhaps if Rayla shared her emotions more, Runaan wouldn't be so hard on her. He probably hadn't even realized that half the things he said bothered her.

If only the two of them would work these things out for themselves.

Ethari started putting an apology together in his head as the silence continued. He couldn't let this become a real issue because he decided to tell his husband off for doing what he felt he needed to.

The scraping began again, slow and inefficient, and then stopped again as if Runaan was desperately trying to distract himself. It wasn’t working.

An even quieter, "I should talk to her," was muttered.

"You should," Ethari agreed. He was tempted to silently let him go, but he couldn't help but catch Runaan's arm on his way to the door. "She's a child, Runaan. You can't forget that."

Runaan nodded reluctantly. Without saying anything, he pressed a kiss to Ethari's cheek and left.

Now, Ethari knew how this went. The two of them would talk, things would be alright until the next time they tried to train together, and suddenly it would be revealed that nothing was ever actually resolved. Ethari would be left to fix it all over again.

Or alternatively, the two of them would start talking, and the conversation would fade into a jumble of accusations and arguments until they both stormed off.

He loved his them both with all his heart, but _sometimes_ …

Ethari heard quiet voices outside moments later. He had to resist the urge to look out the window and see how close they were to yelling at each other.

...He could only resist for so long..

It was just in time to see his husband wrapping Rayla in a tight hug.

No yelling? No quick apologies that meant nothing and would ultimately lead to another fight in the near future?

Huh.

Rayla wiped away some tears as she pulled away and said something Ethari couldn't quite make out, and Runaan nodded, a smile on his face so soft Ethari started to wonder if there was some sort of magic at work. He was quick to pull away from the window before Runaan reentered the home.

His husband's intensity was gone, and Ethari thought that his eyes looked a little watery. Maybe it was just his imagination.

Runaan looked at him and sighed heavily, relief evident on his face.

"It went well?"

"Yes, it went well. She's not ready to come back inside quite yet, but I think we did... good." He cleared his throat and drew closer. "I _am_ sorry that you have to handle us. I didn't even consider that you were probably just as… tired of this as I am."

Ethari smiled. "I suppose it's my job."

"It shouldn't be. I mean, it _won't_ be. Not anymore. We're going to work these out on our own from now on."

Ethari let himself be wrapped in a hug, and stifled a chuckle.

He didn't believe that was true, but Runaan was being genuine. He truly intended on trying to solve any and all conflict with the teenager in their care by _himself,_ and the intent was what mattered. Even when Ethari would inevitably have to come to the rescue once again when one of them got too hardheaded for their own good.

It was a relief not to have their happiness with each other on his shoulders alone, though.

Everything was going to be just fine with the three of them.

**Author's Note:**

> bcuz I saw that Mr. "I'll Die for the Cause" was married to the gentlest person in the world and they worked together to help raise a kid who's like 99% independence and I went "how the heck did that work?"  
> 


End file.
